The Election

Some quick thoughts.

1. All Hail The Third Party!!!!

oth races were complicated by the presence of third-party candidates who drew more votes than the margin separating the two major-party candidates.

In Virginia, Glenda Parker of the Independent Green Party had slightly more than 1 percent of the vote this morning. Ms. Parker, a former Pentagon budget analyst, had no affiliation with the national Green Party. She ran on two issues, calling for cuts in the federal deficit and the construction of a high-speed rail network to cut dependence on oil.

Late in the campaign, when she was attracting about 2 percent support in opinion surveys, she considered dropping out and endorsing either Mr. Webb or Mr. Allen, but then changed her mind.

In Montana, Stan Jones, running as a Libertarian, had 2.6 percent of the vote this morning.

2. My hopeful predictions were WAAAY off but I don't think anyone is really surprised by the results.

3. I can generally live with the results. It will be interesting to see how Pelosi manages the pressures from her base and constituents and those from all the new Blue Dog Dems.